ACE Comes Up Aces

By Vern Stefanic

A top-flight technical program plus favorable oil prices and overall industry conditions combined to make the recent AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in Houston the Association’s largest meeting of the 21st century.

Final attendance figures total 8,446, which made the meeting not only the largest AAPG gathering in 22 years, but also the fifth largest AAPG convention on record – and the largest ever held in Houston.

Of those attending, 1,383 came from 81 countries outside the United States.

“The Convention Committee and I are delighted with the outcome,” said Houston general chair Steve Levine.

“We were pleasantly surprised to see such a large number of attendees for each day – including the final day on Wednesday,” Levine said.

The meeting started with an opening session that featured AAPG President David Rensink’s perspectives on the current and future roles of geoscientists in the world’s evolving energy scene – a world that was filled with challenges, but also with potential and increasing energy demands.

The main attraction, however, remained the science.

“The quality and organization of the technical program is the foundation of the annual convention,” Levine said,“and attendees indicated that the topics and quality were generally quite good.”